Bears vs. Saints: Full Roster Report Card Grades for Chicago
Published by Andrew Dannehy on October 7, 2013
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
For the second straight week the Chicago Bears were out-played on both sides of the ball as they fell to 3-2 with a 26-18 loss to the New Orleans Saints.
The Saints came into the game undefeated and looked the part of an NFC contender. They’re what every team strives to be as they have an explosive offense, and the Bears simply couldn’t match up.
Last week the big story of the game was turnovers by quarterback Jay Cutler, but this week the Bears showed they just don’t have enough around him to compete with the top teams in the NFC.
Outside of one mistake, Cutler was terrific, but the players around him struggled as their offensive line didn’t give him enough time, and a receiver known for his hands had a huge drop. Despite that, the Bears scored 18 points against a team that gave up fewer than 14 and had a chance for more, but was forced to go for it on fourth down late in the game.
For the second week in a row, the Bears defense didn’t give the team much of a chance. This week, it gave up 20 points in the first half, including a pair of long touchdown drives on New Orleans’ final two possessions. Chicago had a chance to go into halftime trailing by just six points, but the defense failed to get a stop on fourth down.
The Chicago defense then gave up two big scoring drives in the second half, one on the Saints’ first possession and another to make the score 26-10.
Once again, a large part of the blame has to go to the coaching. Rob Ryan is a terrific defensive coordinator, but the Bears seemed to be able to solve his Dallas defense—which was arguably more talented—last year. Is Mike Tice really smarter than Marc Trestman?
As the Bears appear closer to rebuilding than contending, this was a good measuring-stick game for them. The Saints are exactly who they want to be offensively and still have a tough, aggressive defense.
Ultimately, it’s a team game, and the Bears weren’t able to put four solid quarters together on either side of the ball. Chicago still got some excellent individual performances, while some players struggled incredibly. Here’s a breakdown of who did what and who struggled.
